Impression adjusting mechanism for printing presses



1956 c. A. HARLESS ET AL 2,743,572

IMPRESSION ADJUSTING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed 001;. l, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet l E/2201511 W. warmv zm ATTORNEYS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 C. A. HARLESS ET AL IMPRESSION ADJUSTING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSE.

Filed Oct. 1, 1952 INVENTOR.

y A IDRJNZES M y L 1956 c. A. HARLESS ETAL 2,743,672

IMPRESSION ADJUSTING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed 001. l, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR IMPRESMGN ADJUST m G MECHAIQISM FUR. PEMNTIENG PREE Charles A. Hairless, Riverside, Conn, and Emory W. Worthington, Hastings on Hudson, N. r, assignors to R. Hoe 85 Co., lino, Bronx, N. Y., a corporation or New York Application October 1, 19532, Serial No. 312,613

6 Claims. (Cl. till-4W) This invention relates to improvements in impression adjusting mechanism for printing presses.

In printing presses, and particularly newspaper presses, one of a pair of cooperating printing cylinders is mounted for adjustment toward and away from the other cylinder to vary the pressure between the two. Such adjustment is coinmonoly efiected by turning eccentric sleeves or bushings in which the cylinder bearings are carried. The eccentrics are then locked in position.

it is an object of the invention to provide an improved impression adjusting mechanism including separately operable means for turning an eccentric supporting the cylinder bearings and for locking the eccentric in the position to which adjusted.

Another object of the invention is to provide an im pression adjustment mechanism which indicates accurately the position to which the cylinder has been adjusted.

A further object of the invention is to provide a locking mechanism including means for exerting a couple accurately balancing the couple created by the impression pressure and tending to turn the eccentric.

A still further object is to provide means for locking the adjusted cylinder firmly in position, to avoid vibration due to dynamic forces resulting from the cylinder rotation.

Impression adjusting mechanism embodying the invention in preferred forms will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, and the features forming the invention will then be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevation, looking in the direction of the line llll of Figure 2, of an impression mechanism according to the invention;

Figures 2, 3 and 4 are sections on the respective lines 22, 3-3 and d-d of Figure l;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is an elevation, with parts broken away, and showing a modified from of the invention;

Figure 7 is an elevation of a second modified form of the invention;

Figure 8 is a vertical cross section of the device of Figure 7, at right angles to the cylinder axis; and

Figure 9 is an enlarged detail section on the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

In the drawing, only so much of the machine construction is shown as is necessary for a full understanding of the invention. Reference may be made to prior patents to Horton 2,356,170 and to Huck 2,383,970 for other details of a printing press unit of the type selected for purposes of illustration.

The printing couple of Figure 1 includes the plate or form cylinder 1 and cooperating impression cylinder 2 supported in a frame structure 3 and held therein by a bearing cap member 4 afiixed to the frame 3, as by means of bolts 5. The impression cylinder shaft 6 is carried in bearings 7 held in place in the frame 3 by the 2,743,672 Patented May 1, 1956 bearing cap 4, and the plate cylinder shaft 9 is supported in bearings 8 carried in the eccentric bushings itl, which, in turn, are rotatively carried in cylindrical seats formed in the frame 3 and bearing cap One end only of the unit is shown, it being understood that the structure is duplicated at the other end of the cylinders.

A cover plate 11 is attached to the eccentric bushing 10 by bolts 12. Grooved ears 13 formed on the plate 11 cooperate with lugs 14 attached to the frame 3 and bearing cap 4 for holding the eccentric in position axially of the cylinder while permitting a rotary or turning move ment of the eccentric.

Pork 15 also formed on the plate 11 carries rotatably poppet 15 having a threaded bore receiving a correspondingly threaded rod 17, the other end of which is rotatably carried in a clevis iii rotatably mounted in a bore 19 on the bearing cap 4 (Figures 1 and 4). Axial movement of the bar 17 relative to the clevis is prevented by collar 20 and hexagon head El. As will be apparent, bar 17 may be turned by applying a wrench to the head 21, and, when so turned, will turn the eccentric. A pointer 22 attached to the fork 15 reads on a scale 23 adjustably attached to the bearing cap 4 by means of slots 24, concentric about the axis of the eccentric ltl, and screws 25 passing through the slots.

The eccentric bushing 10 has its outer cylindrical surface centered about an axis A1 and its inner cylindrical surface supports the cylinder with its axis A2 spaced from the axis A1, by an appropriate distance to provide the required range of adjustment. A spacing or eccentricity of about one-half inch is suitable for the usual newspaper press. Preferably, the parts will be arranged to make the angle between a plane through the axes A1 and A2 and a plane through the axes of the two printing cylinders, close to a right angle in the normal working position. The adjusting movement of the plate cylinder toward and away from the impression cylinder will then be large by comparison with its component of movement at right angles of the plane containing the cylinder axes.

The mechanism for locking the eccentric in adjusted position (Figures 1 and 5) comprises a pair of tubular wedge members 26 and 27 slidabie in a bore 2?? in the bearing cap 4. A rod 29 is threaded into and pinned to the inner member 26 and passes freely through the outer member 2'7, terminating in a threaded end carrying a nut 3% which thrusts against the outer end of member 27, through a washer 31. The adjacent ends of members 2s and 27 are formed with surfaces 32, curved to conform to the cylindrical outer surface or" the eccentric bushing 10. Turning nut Bid in one direction draws the members 26, 27 toward each other, clamping the eccentric 10 in position, while turning the nut fill in the other direction releases the eccentric ill for rotary adjusting movement.

While the mechanism of the invention is not limited to use with cylinders so arranged, it is well adapted to presses having the plane of the cylinder axes at about 45 to the horizontal, as indicated in the drawing. in such presses, the Weight of the plate cylinder and the force exerted by the impression cylinder against it may be approximately equal, one force being directed vet ticaliy downward and the other downwardly in the plane of the cylinder axes. The resultant is a force tending to seat the ring it) firmly in the frame 3 but also generating a couple tending to rotate the ring. The members 26 and 27 when drawn toward each other are equivalent in action to a pin driven through the eccentric bushing W and bearing cap 4 and automatically balance any couple exerted on the ring. The ring may thus be locked against against it.

In addition to the steady static forces just discussed, dynamic effects due to impact of the plate edges against the impression cylinder occur and the locking mechanism permits holding the plate cylinder securely against such impacts, reducing vibration to a minimum by tightening the nut 3% to the extent required to resist any tendency toward vibration.

In installation, the adjustment is set to bring the plate cylinder into parallelism with the impression cylinder and at a distance such that plates of normal height will have their printing surfaces at the pitch line of the gears couplian the cylinders. Screws are now loosened and the scale 23 shifted to bring the pitch line point of the scale opposite the pointer 20, and the screws 25 are then tightened to hold the scale 23 in the set position. The scales are positioned on the inner sides of the bearing caps, so that the pressman making the adjustments may read the scales at the two ends of a cylinder simultaneously. The scale division may be arbitrary or may read in thousandths of an inch or other convenient units. In either case, the pressman is enabled to set the impression at a desired value and restore the press setting at will after any change which may have been made.

In the modification of Figure 6, corresponding parts are identified by the same numerals as in Figure 1 to 5, with prime superscripts, and in general require no further description. The turning of the eccentric ltll is accomplished by a worm ill, rotatable in a bore in the frames 3" and bearing cap l, and engaging worm wheel teeth ilt milled into the periphery of the eccentric ring 10'. The worm is held in place by a bearing 42 and cupshaped retainer :3 screwed into a threaded socket or seat in the bearing cap. Separation of the bearing cap 4' from the frame 3 is thus permitted, the retainer 43 being removed and the Worm ail extracted, preliminary to removing the cap.

The locking mechanism of this modification includes a pair of tubular Wedge members 44 and 45, slidable in a bore in the bearin cap 4, as before, but having right and left hand threaded bores receiving the correspondingly threaded sections and d7 of the operating rod 43. T he outer end of this rod is hexagonal and is slotted to receive a retainer for holding it loosely in position axially. Turning the rod ill causes the members 44 and 45 to move toward or away from each other, as desired, and permits clamping pressure against the eccentric bushing it? without exerting any thrust against the retainer 5%, which is required merely to keep the parts from falling apart when the bearing cap 4- is removed.

in the modification shown in Figures 7 to 9, corresponding parts are identified by the same numerals as in Figures 1 to 5 with the superscript numeral 2, and in general require no further description. The cover plate 11 otherwise the same as plate previously described, does not have the forlt l5, but is provided merely with an extention E5 carrying the pointer 22 The eccentric bushing ltl otherwise the same as the eccentric 1! has wormwheel teeth 69 milled into its outer surface over an are sufficient to permit the desired range of rotary adjustment.

The worm cooperating with the teeth and the locking assembly are telescoped together and are accommodated in a single bore 61 in the bearing cap 4 The assembly includes the tubular wedges or locking members 62 and 63 slidable in the bore 61. Borcs in the members 62 and 63 provide space for the worm 64, which, in turn, has an axial bore accommodating a rod 65 for operating the wedges. The inner end of rod 465 is threaded and extends through a correspondingly threaded bore in the member 62., being fixed to the latter by a pin 66. The tip 57 of a rod 6.5 seats against the bottom of the bore 61.

A hexagonal member 68 is splined to the outer end of the worm for turning the same and also moving axially of the worm to apply clamping pressure to the tubular wedge as. The outer threaded end of rod 65 carries a nut 69 and Washer 70 thrusting against the member 68. A retainer 71 for holding the wedge 63 in the bore completes the assembly.

In this modification, when an impression adjustment is to be made, the nut 69 is turned, releasing pressure against tubular wedge 63 and freeing the eccentric bushing 10 for turning by the worm 64. A wrench is applied to member 68, turning the worm as and the eccentric to adjust the latter to the desired position. When adjusting in the impression increasing direction (rotating the bushing 10 counterclockwise in Figure '7), the thrust is taken by the tip 6'7 of the rod as seated in the bottom of the bore. When adjusting in the reverse direction, the thrust is taken by the retainer 7ft, but in this case, the force required will be small, in any event. Once the required adjustment has been made, the nut 69 is retightened, drawing tubular wedges 62 and 63 toward each other for locking the parts in adjusted position as in the embodiment of Figures 1 to 5.

What is claimed is:

1. In a printing machine having a frame structure, and an eccentric bushing rotatably mounted therein for adjustably supporting a cylinder shaft, the combination with the eccentric bushing of means for rotatively adjusting its position in the frame and means for locking it in adjusted position, comprising a pair of wedge members, a frame structure slidably mounting the wedge members for movement transversely of the eccentric bushing and along a path intersecting the eccentric bushing, and screw means for drawing the said wedge members together to exert locking pressure against the eccentric bushing and for separating the wedge members to release the eccentric bushing for rotary adjustment.

2. The combination according to claim 1, in which the screw means comprise a rod attached to one of the wedge members and extending slidably through the other, and a nut threadably mounted on the end of the rod for exerting thrust against the second said wedge member.

3. The combination according to claim 1, in which the screw means comprises a rod having right and left hand threaded sections received in correspondingly threaded bores in the wedge members.

4. .ln a printing machine having a frame structure, and an eccentric bushing rotatably mounted therein for adjustably supporting a cylinder shaft, the combination with the eccentric bushing of means for locking it in adjusted rotative position, comprising a pair of tubular wedge members, a frame structure mounting the wedge members for movement transversely of the eccentric bushing and along a path intersecting the eccentric bushing, and screw means for drawing the said wedge members together to exert locking pressure against the eccentric bushing and for separating the wedge members to release the eccentric bushing for rotary adjustment, and means for rotatively adjusting the bushing comprising a worm rotatable in the said tubular wedges and worm wheel teeth in the bushing in engagement with the worm.

S. In a printing machine having a frame structure and cooperating printing cylinders carried thereby, an adjustable cylinder shaft support comprising cooperating frame and bearing cap members having recesses forming a seat for rotatively supporting a bushing, an eccentric bushing rotatively carried therein and in turn supporting a printing cylinder shaft bearing, the bearing cap member having a bore extending transversely of the cylinder axis and communicating at one side with the seat, a locking mechanism within the bore comprising a pair of wedge members slidable therein, and means for drawing the said wedge members together to exert locking pressure against the eccentric bushing and for separating the said wedge members to release the eccentric bushing for rotative adjustment.

6. In a printing machine having a frame structure and cooperating printing cylinders carried thereby, an adjustable cylinder shaft support comprising cooperating frame and bearing cap members having recesses forming a seat for rotatively supporting a bushing, an eccentric bushing rotatively carried therein and in turn supporting a printing cylinder shaft bearing, the bearing cap member having a bore extending transversely of the cylinder axis and communicating at one side with the seat, in a generally parallel direction to the plane containing the axes of the cooperating cylinders, a locking mechanism within the bore, comprising a pair of wedge members slidable therein, and means for drawing the said wedge members together to exert locking pressure against the eccentric bushing and for separating the said wedge members to release the eccentric bushing for rotative adjustment.

References Cited in the file of this: patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 617,342 Kurz Jan. 10, 1899 786,220 Kempf Mar. 28, 1905 1,647,948 Winkler Nov. 1, 1927 2,026,434 Quick et al. Dec. 31, 1935 2,579,305 Cushman Dec. 18, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 533,133 Germany Sept. 9, 1931 

